Tadasana | Mountain Pose

The way you carry yourself really is everything. I can get behind that 110% now. The way you see yourself in the mirror, the way you walk into a room, the way your body responds to news.  It takes time, but infusing the body with awareness is the best treatment for improving the quality of your life. Standing up tall, relieving pressure and weight in the body is something we crave, naturally. Stand up for yourself! At first, it might be difficult and even daunting, but soon you will adapt and find your ideal alignment, nourishing the internal organs and regulating cycles of the body.

Mountain Pose is not intimidating. No yoga pretzels here. It is an excellent foundational posture that will inform many other asanas.  I believe that this pose can transform your body. Not only is it a fantastic container for tapping into the breath but daily practice with this pose will allow you to improve your posture, breathe easier and even boost your confidence. There really is more than meets the eye in this asana! It doesn’t ask you to remember traumatizing moments of the metaphorical ruler slapping your wrists and Nurse Ratched telling you to “Sit up straight!” It asks you to work from the ground up and from the inside out. Improving your posture in a way that feels grounded and good. It requires you to really check in and find integrity from your heels to your head.

I have had so many students tell me that this pose above all poses has made an impact in their day-to-day. Just the awareness of where you carry your weight is incredibly valuable. As a beginner, practice mountain pose at least once a day. Taking a moment (in your kitchen or in the shower even) to take a deep breath and come into the posture. Let me know how the conversation goes... 

Benefits:

• Energizing
• Improves posture
• Creates space in the spinal column
• Strengthens ankles
• Firms abdomen and booty
• Relieves sciatica
• Relieves muscle tension and aches in joints
• Can relieve symptoms of mild depression
• Reduce flat feet

Modifications:

• Practice up against a wall. (Head will not touch the wall here.)
• Use block as demonstrated in the video to engage the inner thighs and grow tall from the arches of the feet.